-Hindustan Times A 6% fall between 2015-16 and 2016-17 was reported in RTI applications filed with the 1,950 public authorities of the Central government, which receives maximum information applications followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. The right to information law meant to empower Indians and bring transparency in governance appeared to be losing steam with the number of queries going down mainly because of stone-walling of information by officials and slow disposal of...

-The Indian Express Muslims face rapid socio-economic decline. Yet, any move in their favour is made to look illegitimate In the current debate on the place of the Muslims in India, one variable has not been factored in — their socio-economic situation — as if the dominant repertoire had shifted for good towards the politics of symbols and identity. In socio-economic terms, Muslims are losing ground rapidly, even if their situation is...

-The Hindu Business Line Eleven years since its inception, the State’s farmer’s debt relief commission has quietly eased the burden of debt on poor farmers, and grown to be a model worth emulating Earlier this week 35,000 debt-ridden farmers coursed through Maharashtra, walking 180 km on blistered soles, to converge at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan demanding freedom from debt and fair compensation for their produce. As the government scrounged for solutions, it could’ve...

-News18.com The 180-km protest march, CHRIstened the ‘Long March of Farmers’, steered by the Maharashtra unit of the CPM’s farmers’ wing, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), is the latest in a string of farmers’ protests Maharashtra has seen in a year. More than 30,000 farmers and tribals from across Maharashtra are currently marching to Mumbai from Nashik. They intend to surround Mantralaya, the state’s seat of power, when they reach the...

-The Hindu Where the citizen-government gap is bridged by using the RTI Act for administrative reforms April 18, 2014 is a day the shepherds around Budgam town near Srinagar will not forget. This was the day when Tosa Maidan — a vast pasture that shepherds from seven districts traditionally grazed their livestock in — was reclaimed from the Indian Army. Leased out to the Army in 1964, Tosa Maidan or ‘the king of...